NEW BEDFORD, a city, port of entry, and
one of the capitals of Bristol co., Mass., in lat.
41° 38′ N., lon. 70° 55′ W., 50 m. S. by E. of
Boston; pop. in 1870, 21,300. The municipal
limits embrace an area 11 m. long by 2 m.
wide; the city proper, about 2 m. long and 1
m. wide, is on the W. side of Acushnet river,
whose mouth here forms a commodious harbor
and is crossed by a bridge 4,000 ft. long.

New Bedford.

The
notable public buildings are the city hall, a
Doric granite structure, the Unitarian and
Catholic churches, the custom house, the
almshouse, which accommodates 400 inmates, the
public library, and the house of correction.
There is a strong fortification at the entrance
of the harbor; and around Clark's point, at the
S. end of the city, is a fine public drive 4½ m.
long. The city water works were constructed
in 1867-'9, at a cost of nearly $1,000,000.
From the head of Acushnet river, which is
dammed up to form a reservoir with a capacity
of 400,000,000 gallons, the water is brought
6 m., and is pumped for distribution to a height
of 100 ft. The city has a paid fire department.
A street railroad was constructed in 1872. The
school system includes a high school and 23
grammar and primary schools, with 99 teachers
and 3,500 pupils. The public library,
established in 1803, was assumed by the city in 1852,
and became the first free public library in the
United States. A fine building was erected for
it in 1857, at a cost of $45,000. In 1870 it had
30,000 volumes. In 1863 Miss Sylvia A.
Howland bequeathed to the city $100,000 for the
increase of this library and the support of
liberal education, and an equal sum for the
introduction of water. There are 27 religious
societies, a domestic missionary society with two
free chapels, a young men's Christian association,
a Roman Catholic hospital, an orphan
asylum, and a “Union for Good Works.” New
Bedford has long been the chief seat of the
American whale fishery, which was pursued
here as early as 1755. In 1765 four vessels
were engaged in it, and at the revolution from
50 to 60, most of which were destroyed during
the war. The business revived, but was again
prostrated by the war of 1812. In 1818 it
received a fresh impulse, and continued to nourish
till 1853-'4, which was the culminating
point of its prosperity. At that time there
were 410 whalers, of 132,966 tons, in the
district, and the imports were 44,923 bbls. of
sperm oil, 118,672 of whale oil, and 2,838,800
lbs. of whalebone. The panic of 1857, the
destruction of 30 whalers by confederate cruisers
during the civil war, the wrecking of 24 at
one time in the N. Pacific in 1871, and the
substitution of other articles for the products of
the fishery, proved disastrous, and it is rapidly
on the decline. In December, 1873, the vessels
engaged in it in the United States numbered
171, of which 128, of 35,261 tons, belonged
in New Bedford. The proceeds were 30,961
bbls. of sperm oil, value $1,251,109; 25,729 of
whale oil, $413,555; and 150,598 lbs. of bone,
$162,645; these constituted about three fourths
of the entire importation. The other imports in
1873 amounted to $160,000; exports, $32,350;
duties collected, $36,000; entries, 62;
clearances, foreign 33, domestic 136. The loss
occasioned by the decline of the whale fishery
has been partly compensated by increased
attention to manufactures. The principal
establishments are the Wamsutta cotton mills, with
a capital of $2,000,000, running four mills with
86,000 spindles, and producing in 1873 goods
to the value of $2,500,000; the Potemska mills,
for print cloths, erected in 1871, with a capital
of $500,000, 2,000 looms, and 22,500 spindles,
and products in 1873 of about $1,000,000;
the Gosnold iron mills, copper works, cordage
factory, twist drill works, glass works,
tannery, Prussian blue works, four oil and candle
works, paraffine manufactory, five shoe factories,
two manufacturing photographic establishments,
gas works, kerosene oil works, two flour
mills, and three paint mills. The aggregate
value of the manufactured products in 1873
was about $8,000,000. The valuation of property
in 1874 was: real estate, $11,665,400;
personal, $11,719,900. There are four national
banks, with an aggregate capital of $3,200,000;
two savings banks, with deposits in 1874 of
$10,021,921; one fire and one marine insurance
company; two daily and two weekly newspapers,
and a weekly shipping list. There is a line
of steamers to New York, and one to Martha's
Vineyard. The New Bedford railroad was
formed in 1873 by a consolidation of roads
running to Framingham, Mass., and was extended
to the water front of the city. Large amounts
of coal are brought here for distribution, and
return freights extensively taken to points south.
A branch road from Fairhaven, on the opposite
side of Acushnet river, communicates with the
Old Colony road, and affords an additional
route to Boston and Cape Cod.—New Bedford
was originally part of Dartmouth, from which
it was set off as a town in 1787. It received a
city charter in 1847. It was at one time the
wealthiest city in the United States in proportion
to its population.